As I pondered weak and weary and awoke with eyes so bleary, and the Feed

Apologies to Poe for butchering his poem about an obnoxious bird, but yesterday’s massive linkfest took forever to filter and then another half-forever to compose into something that kinda-sorta made sense and I didn’t get to sleep until nearly 0500 because that’s how long it took to wind down my brain and get to sleep. Part of that was because I was thinking about how to make the negative cavity mold for producing the bucket for the Mini Sprint-T, and how to do the build for the chassis and if I wanted to have the fender/tea-tray/running boards as part of the chassis build or do it separately (both IRL and in the model).

AND I was thinking about my Christmas/Yule list because there is little that I really need and not much that I realistically want to get either. I’m starting to either get that old, or I have become that accustomed to poverty that beyond food, shelter, and meaningful work I really don’t want much. As I posted yesterday I have been requested to post my Wish List on my blog again this year so that people will know what to get me that I will like and possibly use and be able to get to it on their phones.

I’m going to start with the “Things to get me if you have no financial limitations” AKA Ridiculous List. I’m going to start with the drivetrain for my Sprint-T, an LS7 engine and 4L70-E transmission to make everything go, really fast. I decided to go with the larger displacement LS7 over the slightly more powerful LS 376-525 because they are within a few pounds of each other and the LS7 has better low-RPM manners than the highly-cammed and even higher-strung 525. For autocrossing and SCCA Solo Racing pulling off a single-pylon hairpin in first gear without having to argue with the car about who is in control is faster than all-out horsepower that is surging and/or bucking, lugging, or otherwise non-linear. And the transmission is because there ain’t room in the footbox for three pedals with enough space between them to only push one at a time when you only want to push one at a time. As it is I’m going to have to install a heel stop to keep my left foot from dragging the brakes all the time.

Also I’m going to need a rear axle with aluminum tubes with Wide5 snouts set to provide a 57″ hub-to-hub width and a differential that will hold up under street and Solo Racing abuse, built as light as possible to improve the sprung/unsprung weight ratio. And that pretty well covers my Fantasy List.

Getting to things that are realistic in costs and desires, I could always use another Starbucks card, Jack in the Box card, TGIFriday’s card, or any other dining gift card. Mrs. the Poet and I have also determined that we will need a new slow-cooker soon. The one we have now is 10 cup capacity and makes a perfect pot of beans and rice that will serve us heartily for at least 2 dinners together, or 5 solo dinners for myself, but the plastic lid is about to fall apart after about 20 years of service and the crock part is getting really hard to clean. Mrs. the Poet has asked for a broom and dishcloths, and would likewise appreciate dining gift cards, for either her birthday this week or Yule next week. She is also seeking a replacement for our dying vacuum cleaner that we can’t get consumables for any more. I think that’s the thing she really wants the most, a working vacuum cleaner.

Also something that happened was I got a PM on FB from a fan that has basically given up on riding on the road. “Opus. Thank you for writing your bike articles. They are important. Cycling was important to me. It is still an important philosophical point for me.
But I have moved on to my motor scooter, for a few of the reasons that you point out.
Im now a “part of traffic” moving with them, not fighting them.
Im tired. The constant battle for a 2ft wide space on a bicycle on public streets was wearing me down.
Life should be more than that. So, while I loved cycling. I still do. But can’t do it. The stress is too much any more.
On my scooter, I can flow WITH the traffic. Not be overwhelmed. Damn” Papa Balloon

Up first is breaking news that Ethan Couch has gone missing and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. Warrant For Arrest Of “Affluenza” Teen Ethan Couch This meeting he missed was supposedly going to be for an explanation of the video showing him at a party he was not allowed to attend as part of his probation, according to the broadcast report I was watching.

Next we get two links to another FloriDUH! man on a motorcycle. Police: Motorcyclist ran red light, struck bicyclist near Clearwater Mall and Two men injured in Clearwater motorcycle, bicycle accident The drunk had 11 prior suspensions and reportedly was under suspension again at the time of the wreck. This again leads to the question “How do we keep recidivist drunk drivers from driving again?” because they caught this guy 11 times before and he’s still out there driving. How many times do they suspend a license before putting the guy in jail? There was a comment on the first link to the effect that the drunk’s relatives were convinced that his license had been restored in spite of the records saying it was still suspended. This leads me to deduce the driver is a lying bastard who continued to drive after losing the privilege to drive and telling his relatives he had paid to get his license back. Spoiler, it doesn’t work that way.

Well here’s one deadly FloriDUH! driver that won’t be killing anyone with a motor vehicle any time soon. Bradenton woman sentenced to 30 years in prison for killing bicyclist while fleeing police in stolen car The facts in the case are such that she should never be allowed out until her mental illness is cured or controlled.

More on the moron who ran into a cyclist from behind while stoned on pot. Family of man charged with killing cyclist say it was an accident

After that we need Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: They Drive Among Us part deux, and Marina del Rey rider stopped for biking while black

Still in CA. Cyclist killed, driver arrested in head-on crash in S.F. The narrative shows a scenario that was impossible for a human cyclist to avoid. The driver was basically driving the wrong side of the street in such a way that the cyclist had no place to go.

Not done with CA yet. WOMAN FATALLY STRUCK BY VEHICLE WHILE RIDING BIKE IN SAN JOSE Another blind driver claiming “sun was facing the driver” blinded her to the cyclist.

NYC demonstrates how strongly they care about traffic safety. NYPD Will Briefly Crack Down On Reckless Drivers Near Senior Centers Move it Gramps! You’re holding up traffic.

And something else that will have little to no effect on wrecks or even hit-and-runs. NYC May Double Fines For Hit-And-Run Drivers Gee, doubling the fine for the 1% you actually prosecute…

And the latest wreck this was responding to. Unlicensed Hit-And-Run Driver Critically Injures Woman In Queens Unlicensed driver and a hit-and-run as far as the car would continue to run… Remember that statement about killer drivers and high speed car shredders that turn a Suburban to metal confetti in 1.4 seconds? It should apply to wrecks like this one too.

First-person account of a motor vehicle brandishing incident. Shifting the bike vs. car paradigm The actual article is about infrastructure and sharing the roads, but I’m stuck on that brandishing incident in the opening paragraph because I had a similar incident a few years ago that ended with me on the road instead of my bike.

Another WOW moment. Bystanders lift car off trapped cyclist in China

Last link, TX cyclists get together to restore trees to an area denuded of them. WIMBERLEY RETREET

And I’m outta links again.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

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Still treating new ankle scratches, and the Feed

My legs resemble a scratching post because baby kittens are going to scratch when they play, that’s the nature of the beast. I just get caught in the middle when they do, literally. One on one side and one on the other side of my leg, clawing and biting at each other and mostly getting what’s between them, which would be my leg. So I slather on the hand sanitizer to disinfect the scratches and wince, then carry on.

Among the other things I have going on besides this blog and kittens is getting a solar-powered light ready for camping. The light was originally equipped with a single 600 mAh ni-cad AA cell which was not cutting it for winter lighting with the circuit used to light a string of white LEDs, so I swapped out a 2000 mAh NiMH I have in my stash to see how well it works. I just did the install this afternoon so the test has only barely begun as I type this.

Also on my plate is building a handrail for the porch steps at church, which consumed a major portion of my afternoon and evening getting the raw stock for building them. As it turns out the tax number for the church was not registered at the store in spite of several purchases for the church being made there. So when we go back for the stuff tomorrow we have to have the paper tax form with the notary stamp. Bleah!

Up first is a wreck with a tree in NYC. [UPDATE] Cyclist In Critical Condition After Tree Falls On Him In Red Hook and Deliveryman Critically Hurt By Falling Tree In Brooklyn also Workers Cutting Down Tree Critically Injure Cyclist, Local Says “They Didn’t Block Nothing” Cyclist had virtually no warning of the hazard other than a person in street clothes waving at him, without the required flag or cones.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Writer claims Vision Zero is anti-driver plot, new CA bike friendly cities, and Gabe Klein at UCLA Um, yeah Vision Zero is anti-driver, drivers have the things that kill people.

Oregon gets a statewide bike plan. First look at ODOT’s draft of a new biking and walking plan There were lots of “weasel words” in the document that essentially make it not do what they claim it will do.

NYC safe-streets advocates ask for more accurate reporting on wrecks. “Crash, Not Accident”: Hundreds March To Remember Those Killed By Drivers This narrative has been used here repeatedly. I still sometimes make that mistake here, but I’m getting better at it.

Another KY cyclist is ticketed for not using the trash and glass strewn bike lanes, and running red lights. Biking advocate: ‘I am not a scofflaw’ Two things, since there are no sensors in the bike lanes because their bike lanes are just paint where they think there is room to paint a bike lane a cyclist could wait all day for a light to change (especially if their beg buttons are like the ones here in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell and just instruct the signal controller to activate the walk signal with the next signal cycle). The other thing is the bike lanes tend to get the trash and broken glass that cars push off to the sides, so I would tell cops that if they wouldn’t walk barefoot in the bike lane I wouldn’t ride a bike there.

Ghost Bike News from west Canuckistan. Daughter requests ghost-bike memorial for father

Cyclist hit from behind in Jolly Olde. ‘We are all devastated’: Tributes as young cyclist killed in crash with car

A little bit of justice for an injured cyclist. London cyclist severely injured in lorry crash wins compensation Quoting an Original Cast SNL skit now they “can buy some moss for her north side”. For those not old enough to remember that skit John Belushi played the cyclist in a coma for that one that doesn’t seem to be on YouTube.

They managed to find out who the unconscious cyclist in Oz was. Cyclist critically injured in Ballarat CBD

An Enn Zed competition cyclist falls off a mountain. Meggie Bichard’s injury prompts safety calls for Nelson mountainbike trails And cue all the bleching and moaning about tax-dodging cyclists in 5, 4, 3 HOONNNK! they jumped the gun.

And I think I’m out of links finally. I know it doesn’t look like many, but there was a long break in the middle to take care of that church project.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the tired

Another day “interrupted” with D&D, and the Feed

I took part in another D&D session today, and as I was the only one that had to work today I filtered while I played and let everyone else just play. My 5th Ed. Warlock3 was not challenged by the encounters because everybody was suffering a case of mediocre dice. Nobody rolled any 1s when it counted, but that was about the best thing we could say about the game today. I have never seen so many 2s and 3s on attack rolls as we had today. And it just dawned on me that I was using the wrong column for computing my attack rolls because “Eldrich Blast” is a spell attack in 5th Ed and calculates as Performance Bonus + Charisma Bonus + 1d20, where in D&D3.5 it was Attack Bonus + Feats Bonuses + 1d20 and I was leaving the Charisma bonus off the attack. That meant I was rolling 1d20+2 when I should have been rolling 1d20+7. Considering the number of times I missed by 2 or less, I could have done a lot more damage than I did (none).

Up first, a cyclist disposing of used toilet paper may have caused a massive wildfire. Pooping Cyclist Blamed for 73-Acre Idaho Wildfire Maybe digging a cathole latrine and burying the paper would have been a better idea? Do they even teach digging a cathole latrine any more?

We cyclists know roads were not built for cars, and neither were cities. European Mobility Week: The capital cities that are banning cars from their roads – for one day So for one day cyclists in a few European cities will get a few streets that are blissfully free of death machines.

LEO are “aware” of a video showing an assault on an Irish cyclist. Gardai ‘aware’ of video showing thug knocking cyclist off bike As was pointed out in the comments, that shirt is very distinctive and shouldn’t be too hard to locate. Now if “aware” translates to “give a shit” we might see some charges, maybe even some prosecutions.

Over in Jolly Olde a particularly egregious hooking wreck sees a trial date set. Trial date set for lorry driver from Willesden accused of killing cyclist at Ludgate Circus I’m sure the defense is going to use “activating an automatic speaker system which said ‘this vehicle is turning left’” as an excuse for running the cyclist over as the truck passed. This is especially egregious because the signal did not activate until the weapon vehicle was already making the turn across the cyclist’s lane, leaving less than zero reaction time to the signal.

This Brazilian cyclist hulks out over a car parked in the bike lane, and then does something about the car. Hero cyclist picks up and moves car blocking bike lane I think that might be the rear bumper cover in the foreground of the video that the cyclist removed from the car to get a better grip on the subject.

Our Daily Ted. Update: 36 year old bike rider killed in Newport Coast From the later comments this appears to have been a solo wreck on a trail near the highway. No word on exactly how or where the wreck happened.

Guess who has a bike culture now? Detroit Bike Culture Is Unstoppable It’s a lot easier to keep up two 5 foot bike lanes than a 70 foot wide street, especially when there is almost no traffic on the street anyway.

One of the biggest problem facing cyclists is getting the light to change so that running the red becomes optional rather than mandatory. City and state working to help bicycle users get the green Maybe if they put beg buttons on the side of the street for drivers to use as well as cyclists… Make the infrastructure as convenient for drivers as it is for cyclists. Or even better put a detector in a protected bike lane and make cars wait until a cyclist shows up to trigger the light. Or is that schadenfreude on my part?

Language is important. We don’t say “plane accident.” We shouldn’t say “car accident” either. Changing the language of crossing the street caused what was once normal behavior to be criminal. See “jaywalking”. So, don’t call them “accidents”, call them “wrecks”. Or “death machine tangos” 😀 “Death machine tango leaves two injured, one seriously” has a lot more impact than “Traffic accident leaves…” And how about “Death machine tango with cyclist causes life-threatening injuries”? “Death machine tango in crosswalk leaves two pedestrians dead, another seriously injured”. You don’t even need to be specific about what kind of vehicle any more, because they are all “death machines” to one degree or another.

More Portland infrastructure. City advisory committees oppose TriMet’s plans for swing gates on Orange Line Remember that article two paragraphs ago about making the signal change for cyclists like it does for motor vehicles? Same theory on this one. They want cyclists and handicapped people to work their way through spring-loaded gates trying to not get caught on any protuberances on either the vehicle or the gate that slams shut behind them and hoping a train doesn’t pass while they are trying to get unhooked from the gate on the train side of the gate.

NC residents say “Nuts” to 45 day limits on Ghost Bikes. Residents spurn policy for removing ‘ghost bikes’ As it is now, one determined bike hater could get any ghost bike removed 45 days after it goes up.

Things are very different when a local celebrity is the one injured in a bike wreck. KXLY radio host Ken Hopkins recovering from bike accident I like they are spending $$ to remodel the studio to make it ADA compliant, but why wasn’t it compliant already?

Dude, you got way too much anger about this. Thief Hacks Down 25-Foot Tree to Steal Bike, Locals Say That’s $thousands of tree destroyed to get a bike that will fence for $20.

Last link, BMW designed an e-assist that could be installed on full suspension bikes and retain the clean benefits of a Gates belt drive, but wasn’t in the e-assist business. BMW i Develops Drive Unit Swing Arm For Heisenberg XF1 E-Bike So, shared technology. Yay!

And that’s all I got and I had to do some crawling around to find that much.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet.

Someone I know has died, and the Feed

A person I have had conversations with over the Internet has been killed by a right hook while riding in the bike lane in PDX. Kirke Johnson was one of the more if not the most prolific senders of links to this blog, and the body sock on his LWB ‘bent was ANSI Safety Lime in the latest picture I saw of him and his bike. Links: Collision involving FedEx truck kills man riding on Cornell Road in Cedar Mill also Bicyclist killed in crash with semi truck in Cedar Mill and Longtime PCC employee, bike enthusiast killed when hit by FedEx truck and finally Friends remember Kirke Johnson, identified as man killed in Cedar Mill collision

A graphic that shows why large trucks should not be allowed in urban areas (not what the poster was trying to show). What Cyclists Need To Know About Trucks The original purpose of posting the graphic was to show cyclists how to ride safely around large trucks, but the effect is a demonstration of why large trucks should not be allowed in places where there will be large numbers of pedestrians or cyclists.

More on Bono’s wreck. Bono Undergoes Surgery After N.Y.C. Bike Accident Seriously now, what did he hit to cause that kind of damage? How fast was he going? If he ran into something just off the bike path, what kind of diversion or other mitigation was available to reduce the impact of a cyclist getting forced off the road in this location. Notice that I am framing this as an infrastructure problem, not blaming Bono for the wreck, as all the reports are that he went off the path to avoid another cyclist.

Still in NYC, a cop tackles a cyclist off his bike to give him a ticket for “running” a red light. Photo: Cop Tackles Cyclist In Canal Street GOTCHA! Bike Trap and Precinct Where Drivers Killed Seniors in Crosswalks Ramps Up Bike Tickets and the source Ticket Tackling, or How the NYPD Pulls Over Cyclists on Canal Street As one person in the comments section pointed out this would be like doing the PICT maneuver and wrecking someone’s car for running a red light without ever showing lights or using the siren.

Still in NYC, bike lanes will continue to be built at the same rate as before. De Blasio’s DOT Will Build Bike Lanes At Bloomberg-Era Rate As pointed out in the picture at the top of the article, cops need a place to park when they are making donut runs.

Update on the gun-toting VA driver that buzzed 5 cyclists earlier this month. Driver arrested in Richmond for threatening cyclists with gun

A little lesson on riding in a peloton from Oz. Cyclists code of conduct aimed at educating bunch riders

I can’t help it, I just went “D’aaawww” when I read the headline… Cyclist on world tour pedals 200 miles across Turkey with injured stray dog in a specially-made basket to find it a new home

And those were all the links I could find that didn’t make me crazy(er).

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

So how do you pronounce “Francis/es” anyway, and the Feed

Short answer to the question posed by the headline, two syllables with the second syllable vowel sound a schwa (ə) or fran’ səs. Since Francis/es has expressed no gender, or much of any personality traits aside from a tendency to go in a different direction than expected at startup, I will not assign gender to it. I mean I know it’s a truck, made for carrying loads, but I detect no masculine tendencies nor feminine ones either for that matter. Sure Gigi was like a 9YO girl who swore like a sailor, and Blue was like an eager puppy, and Stratus was like Eeyore except not as talkative, but each of those bikes was either old or abandoned or both. Francis/es is for all intents and purposes a brand new bike and hasn’t had the time to develop a personality yet. There’s no “magic” there yet aside from the stubborness.

On another front, I’m having a small problem with the interior diagonal for the passenger compartment of the Sprint T. To get maximum torsional stiffness I need to run the diagonal from the top of the rear hoop to the bottom of the front hoop or vice-versa. Since the front-to-back diagonal will have to run through the side of the body to get to the base of the rear hoop that only leaves the rear-to-front as a viable alternative. And even that has its difficulties, because that diagonal would have to meet the bottom of the front hoop just to the left of my left foot in this picture:

And as you can see, it’s already pretty crowded there.

Up first, we finally have a clear picture of the jihadist squirrel that suicide attacked a CA cyclist. Cyclist recalls being ‘torpedoed’ by squirrel I would say that fork definitively passed the “squirrel test”.

Still in CA we get a Ted Rogers report on a red-light running cyclist. Alleged red light running cyclist killed in San Diego; first bicycling death in city this year and Cyclist killed in Midway District collision As Ted reported local cyclists say the signal does not detect the presence of a cyclist and does not change when one is there, which kind of conditions cyclists to run that particular light in particular and traffic signals in general. Intersection protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Moving up the coast a tiny bit (by TX standards). Cyclist seriously injured in crash with car on PCH in Long Beach Not much to go on with this one, I think because that new passing law makes hitting a cyclist from behind an automatic ticket and if the ticket isn’t acknowledged publically there will be outrage from cyclists and drivers. But since there was no intersection given it is pretty much certain that this was a hit-from-behind wreck. Protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get that infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Still in CA but in the northern half of the state. Police: Napa cyclist hit by pickup, seriously injured Looking at the Street View of the scene we see a T intersection with 6½ lanes and no sensor in the bike lane to trigger the signal. This configuration all but demands that cyclists run the red when there is no motor vehicle traffic to trigger the signal unless that camera can detect a bike in the bike lane (if you move on step closer to the intersection than the link I picked you can see the camera). Depending on the cycle time for the light a cyclist could leave on the green and still be in the intersection when the light phase turned green for the other direction. Not knowing the timing of the light phases I can’t say precisely what happened here, but I do know that getting that infrastructure “up to Dutch” would prevent future wrecks.

Two guys riding one bike in GA are hit, one dead, one injured. Bicyclist hit and killed by car in DeKalb County Note that this is a secondary wreck induced by bad infrastructure after the actual cyclist lost control of the bike in limited visibility. The only way to avoid this wreck was to not have the first wreck that caused the cyclist to go onto the road in front of the weapon vehicle. The way to prevent a future wreck is to get that infrastructure “up to Dutch” so that a bicycle wreck doesn’t turn into a car wreck.

Breakthrough in a FL hit-and-run. Possible vehicle in cyclist hit-and-run recovered This was a hit-from-behind of a cyclist riding in the bike lane. I hope they throw the entire law library at this fool because what happened was in front of dozens of witnesses.

More on a MI wreck. Police identify bicyclist killed in early morning crash as Hudsonville man, 54 Cyclist now definitively was lighted beyond legal minimums when hit from behind by a literrally blind driver (oncoming headlights!). Not much the cyclist could have done to avoid this one as the wreck took place just before a merge from 3 lanes in each direction to 2 and a cyclist would need to be where he was hit to prevent motor vehicles from forcing him off the road. Still would require Dutch-quality infrastructure to prevent.

A wreck in far West Canuckistan. Cyclist injured in collision with car on Island Highway Still trying to figure this one out. They were both at fault? How does that happen?Get that infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

More on the bike/ped wreck in West Canuckistan. Cyclist’s speed not a factor in Stanley Park crash that killed Chinese tourist Outside witnesses have come forward with statements that the pedestrian stepped out right in front of the cyclist leaving no time to react or avoid the wreck.

This is a scary wreck in Oz. Dashcam video: Young girl cyclist in head-on holiday park crash with car (but gets up and walks away) This demonstrates what getting infrastructure “up to Dutch” looks like in a wreck. In the Netherlands this would be exactly the same as it is in the video, shared space with an extremely low motor vehicle speed limit, and you see the outcome. Nothing! the kid gets up and walks away from the wreck unharmed except for needing a change of pants and underwear.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Automakers build in deadly distractions; CD15’s Buscaino multi-modals his way to work

Infrastructure! news from CA. Injured midtown resident challenges Sacramento law allowing sidewalk cycling I actually see this as a positive for cycling if this suit is allowed to continue, as cyclists would then be allowed to sue for the state allowing cars to take over the streets and roads without designing the infrastructure for all users.

A little whimsical infrastructure from West Canuckistan. Vancouver to remove mysterious unicycle markings on bike lanes Turns out unicycles are already legal in Canuckstani bike lanes, no additional signage needed.

Are you still paranoid when they really are out to get you? Cyclists: Motorists See You as Moving Targets The scary thing is a cyclist will get passed by hundreds of cars during a long trip, if only 0.01% of them have socio- or psycopathic drivers that could mean you’re life is in peril 2 or 3 times a day.

And those were all the bicycle-related links I could find for today. I have some on-deck for tomorrow…

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

Another grocery day with thumder storms, and the Feed

Another day shopping for food and sundries, spiced this time by being inside the store while a violent thunderstorm raged outside, violent enough that people were calling my cell to make sure I wasn’t out in it. We weren’t but we did see evidence of a major downpour on the way home, like small branches everywhere, sections of fence blown down in the streets and alleys, and a sea of mud in the back yard.

Up first is a cyclist witnessed by pedestrians pulling out into traffic and getting hurt on the opposite side of her head from where witnesses claimed she impacted. Woman Injured in Bicycle-Motorcycle Accident Hit from behind wreck that could have been avoided by a little better SA on the part of the cyclist. Kudos to the motorcyclist trying to avoid the wreck and laying the bike down.

Excuse me while I engage in a little schadenfreude. Sunset Hills mayor charged with assault for allegedly hitting cyclist with car If it wasn’t for the fact that I already know the guy that said this right before (and as) he tried to kill me is dead and buried for several years now I would be sending the “good mayor” a subpoena for notice of where he was on the night of the crime… Heck I might do it anyway, just for giggles.

A cyclist is hit-and-run in AL. Fairhope cyclist hit, injured by SUV; driver sought The narrative of the wreck sounds like deliberate assault to me (weapon vehicle left the road after hitting the cyclist and hit an obstruction off the shoulder of the road then continued on). Hit from behind protocols would have been ineffective in this incident as the driver made sure he(?) went all the way off the road to get the cyclist, rendering escape routes moot. Getting the infrastructure “up to Dutch” would prevent a future wreck.

A CO cyclist is hit allegedly running a red light. 14-year-old boy riding bike hit by vehicle in Arapahoe County; teen has life-threatening injuries Intersection protocols to avoid particularly the one that says to not run red lights or stop signs with oncoming traffic. If the infrastructure was “up to Dutch” then the cyclist and the driver would have been on mostly parallel but segregated street networks with little to no interaction and this would not have happened.

Another salmon cyclist is hit and killed in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Orlando bicyclist killed on U.S. 1 That is a bad road to be riding a bike on particularly if you aren’t riding according to the rules. There are bike lanes on part of US 1 but drivers have a bad tendency to use them as passing lanes when traffic is backed up and turn lanes at intersections and to not pay any attention to if there is a person riding a bicycle in the lane. This was one of those stretches that had bike lanes and also had medians blocking the road making cyclists go out of their way to get to where they could ride both on the right side of the road and in the direction of their destination. So now we might know what caused the cyclist to ride salmon. To avoid don’t ride salmon, to prevent don’t make cyclists have to choose between crossing a busy highway without a traffic signal or riding salmon.

A cyclist in TN had a medical emergency out on the bike trail. Man dies after having medical emergency while biking in Maryville I got nothing on this one except sympathy for the cyclist’s survivors.

This VA wreck report had lots of information on what happened after the wreck. Suffolk cyclist dies after collision with pickup truck Not much on what happened before or during the wreck other than a location. LEO are sitting extremely tight on this one, which in VA usually means the driver done screwed up royally.

(Not) typical UK treatment of dangerous drivers that injure cyclists. Cheltenham cyclist Mark Schofield, who almost died when hit by a Ranger Rover, feels ‘let down’ as the driver will not be prosecuted after legal error What makes this not typical? the driver was considered for prosecution. Most drivers never see the inside of a UK court after hitting a cyclist and being found at fault.

If you really want to kill someone… Truck driver fined over cyclist’s death Do it with a motor vehicle and claim you “didn’t know” you did it. The worst you will get is a fine or maybe a few weekends in jail.

A two-part Daily Ted. Gov. Brown tacitly endorses hit-and-run; LA finally says enough is enough when it comes to traffic deaths

And part the second. Morning Links: Fundraiser for bike-friendly SaMo Mayor O’Conner, CicLAvia visits Boyle Heights on Sunday

Infrastructure! news from CT. New law to protect cyclists, pedestrians This is virtually identical to a law that was vetoed by Gov. Goodhair back in 2009 that would have protected vulnerable users in TX starting in 2010. Since then more than 100 cyclists and 2000 pedestrians have died in wrecks that fell under the purview of the law.

A little lifestyle from CA. Family of bicyclist killed in hit-run raising funds You would think that charges would be filed before they buried the victim.

Presented without comment. Cyclists v the rest of the world – can we please call a truce?

Advice from The Cannibal. A public service announcement

Getting the “Down Low Glow” on your pedal powered ride. Bicycle Trailer LED Lights This will work not just on trailers but also on the down tube and chain stays of a regular bike or the bed of a cargo bike like Francis/es.

And those were all the links I could find for today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

My birthday present to me is coming, and the Feed

I went ahead and bought the body for the Sprint T (or the simulator for same) and the e-mail came in the order was shipped this morning and should be on my driveway by this evening. Yay! I will take many pictures of the box and contents when they arrive. And if it gets delivered before I finish the post they will be at the bottom of this post. I’m so excited I’m practically “squeeing” and jumping up and down, which is kind of silly for a person of my advanced years. Yes, I’m admitting I’m getting too old to act like a kid getting a new toy, but I’m still acting like a kid with a new toy anyway. So there! 😉

Up first is a report from Oz of a cyclist going off the road and into a tree, because there were so many links to the story. Well known doctor critically injured in cycling accident also Alstonville cyclist critical after crashing into tree and GP fighting for his life after bicycle crash at Alstonville Right now the cause of the wreck is practically a state secret, but such wrecks are very seldom this serious without a motor vehicle in the works somewhere. It looks like a “punishment pass” or maybe a “buzz job” that caused the cyclist to leave the road (not much difference between the two in practice, it’s just a different intent prior to the wreck) and they cyclist found a tree in his escape route while employing hit-from-behind protocols. Unfortunately life is not like Hollywood, where the stunts are planned in advance to the nth degree. Real Life™ is a constant series of “winging it” and hoping for the best, and sometimes that means you run into trees trying to get away from hoons in cars. Get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Next is from someplace I haven’t lived for at least 53 years… Bicycle rider killed in hit and run in Clarksville and Police find vehicle in Clarksville cyclist fatality Again LEO are not releasing the mode of the wreck, but the location suggests a hit-from-behind wreck, so protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Update on the bike-on-ped wreck from last week from the paper of record. Woman Hit by a Bicyclist in Central Park Dies OK now seriously, I would dearly love to see this much attention paid to any of the other pedestrians killed that week, but they were killed with motor vehicles.

A PA wreck from the police blotter. Sentinel police log for Sept. 23 You have to look for the report, but being a blotter report there isn’t much on the mode or anything else. The driver appeared to be sober at least.

A rash of wrecks in Chucktown SC. Pedestrian and bicyclist injured in downtown hit-and-runs The cyclist was hit by a right hook, so intersection protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

A CO wreck approaches closure. Driver who injured ex-pro cyclist pleads guilty Now a suitable sentence… like crushing his car and pulling his license for life.

A wreck in AK. Cyclist injured in Fairbanks bike-truck collision This report is so biased I don’t know what happened except the cyclist was hit riding on the road, “outside the area designated for bicyclists“, whatever that is supposed to mean.

Serious wreck in Canuckistan. Cyclist injured in crash on Sargent Avenue in Winnipeg It looks like the cyclist ran the stop sign, or stopped and went without seeing the car that hit her. That would indicate intersection protocols to avoid in particular the part about stopping at stop signs, and getting the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent. The geometry and physics of this wreck are interesting. Notice the front wheel was separated from the bike in the wreck but there was little to no damage to that wheel, the lack of damage to the front of the weapon vehicle, the proximity of the weapon vehicle to the intersection where the cyclist was riding, and the cyclist’s shoe sitting in the street. Some of those point to a high speed at impact (front wheel separation, cyclist’s shoe) and others strongly indicate a low speed for the weapon vehicle. And all those cans with no damage are also an indication that the weapon vehicle was not going very fast at impact. I counted 11 of 12 cans with no damage in the picture. Very strange…

There is some question of was the rider even where he was supposed to be in this wreck in the Great White North. Five injured when Gatineau bus collides with cyclist I think the wreck was hit-from-behind, but no confirmation on that. I strongly feel that this wreck showed how badly this city needs infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent wrecks.

LEO on bike wreck in the GWN. SIU called in after Brampton cyclist seriously injured Because of LEO involvement the only thing we know is it was at an intersection so assume something in the intersection protocols will help avoiding or reducing damages, and getting the infrastructure “up to Dutch” will prevent a similar wreck.

This little gadget could make a difference in the aftermath of a wreck. Polaroid’s Teensy, Cheap, and Durable “Cube” Camera Is Good News for NYC Bikers

Closing with this link. What to do if you’re hit by a car while riding your bike

And as of right now my order from Speedway hasn’t showed up yet.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

Working late on my birthday, and the Feed

I normally work late on Monday to catch up from the weekend of not posting links, but I will be working even later today because I was “doing stuff” this afternoon. I did a wire transfer from my bank to Wells Fargo in San Francisco so that I would have a paper trail in case they tried to claim we “stopped paying” on our paid-off mortgage and foreclose on us like they did to several people in FL who paid off their mortgages early. I also went to my local Whataburger to have a “Green Chile Double”, one of Whataburger’s seasonal specials. That’s half a pound of ground beef, two slices of cheese, and a thick coating of diced green chili peppers over the top. I’m indeed fortunate that my cholesterol is naturally low so that I can eat meals like this safely. I then picked up the makings for a double batch of “Bacon Jalapeño Poppers” and walked home from the grocery store. For the curious the makings for a double batch of “Bacon Jalapeño Poppers” consists of a dozen large jalapeño peppers, 2 6oz. packages of cream cheese, and a pound of bacon. Soften the cheese, halve and seed the peppers, fill the half peppers with the cheese, wrap a slice of bacon around each half pepper, and either broil or grill until the bacon is crispy.

BTW It’s my birthday and You say it’s your birthday? and with moar creepy babies and dancing kittens

Up first is another fatal bike-ped wreck, that wreck in Central Park last week just turned fatal for the pedestrian. Pedestrian Dies Days After Collision With Central Park Cyclist I hate this, because I have done the work and the cyclist had very little chance of avoiding this wreck after avoiding the pedestrians in the bike lane. Sure, if he trained at making the second move for a few weeks and then practiced at it once a week or so he might have been able to make that second move, but then again maybe not. I keep looking at this wreck and I keep coming up with the same answer, that mixing pedestrians and cyclists in the only area to train as a cyclist for more than 8 million people without providing segregated infrastructure and this will happen again and again. The Dutch solution is to make everyday bicycle infrastructure that is “training worthy”, where cyclists can maintain >20 MPH for miles without having to worry about hitting any pedestrians. Build bicycle infrastructure with sight lines and curves that will support riding at race speed, and cyclists will train away from pedestrians and cars. More Bicycle rider not charged in Central Park collision that put pedestrian on ventilator

Moving to just south of WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Female cyclist seriously injured in Friday collision AFAIK it’s another hit-from-behind wreck but this time near an intersection. It was also very near a bike trail which the cyclist may have either been coming from or going to.

A wreck in LA that I don’t have the slightest clue how to avoid. Crash leaves cyclist dead, offier injured I mean there was a cop there and presumably a cop car with the lights going, the cop was pushing a car that was hit as well as the cop and the cyclist. The driver was suspected of being “chemically impaired” by synthetic marijuana.

A CA wreck in Ted Rogers’ ballpark. Update: Cyclist found dead following apparent hit-and-run in Oceanside and Dead bicyclist found in Oceanside Cyclist was hit riding in a cul-de-sac meaning the driver had to really work at it to get up to lethal speed in the limited amount of space. ordinarily I would say hit-from-behind protocols but I’m thinking this is way too much like my wreck for a human cyclist to get away from it. Segregated infrastructure would prevent it, but I’m thinking that this would be shared space in the Dutch model.

Moving north to OR we get another hit-from-behind wreck. Serious injury bicycle-involved crash on Highway 131 between Netarts and Tillamook Protocols to avoid or reduce injury, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

A DC wreck that I’m not sure of the mode of the wreck. D.C. police seek driver who killed bicyclist in hit-and-run The damage description suggests hit-from-behind, but the location suggests straightforward intersection protocols. The actions of the driver suggest a lynch mob…

Back in NYC a cyclist runs a red light on video and gets hit by a bus. NYPD: NICE bus that crashed into Queens pizza store swerved to avoid cyclist Intersection protocols to avoid, especially the part about not running the red light if there’s traffic, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Up in the Great White North a cyclist is hit in an intersection. Cyclist struck, seriously injured in west end See how the bike shows the directionality of the impact from the right? That’s how I know it was an intersection wreck before I even read the article. The video stated the cyclist’s head went through the rear window of the weapon vehicle. Nothing on which one had the right of way. Intersection protocols maybe would be of use in avoiding or reducing damages in this wreck. Getting the infrastructure “up to Dutch” would most likely prevent a repeat of this wreck.

I want to make copies of this wreck report and shove them in the faces of all those people who keep telling me that I should get off my bike and walk it through intersections. Man wheeling bike killed after collision with car and van at Tapleys Hill Rd, Seaton and a different URL Man wheeling bike killed after collision with car and van at Tapleys Hill Rd, Seaton This wreck was in Oz, BTW.

LifeStyle in NH. Bicyclists remember women killed in crash and Cyclists Killed in Crash Remembered

From the City of Broad Shoulders. North Shore Century Ride for a Great Cause

Another Wounded Warrior ride. Wounded Warrior riders bike 164 miles to Fort Campbell

I has a birthday Google Doodle.

And those were all the links that gave me fits or giggles.

Opus the unkillable badass Poet

Back to the old composing page, and the Feed

As much as I like the streamlined look of the new composing page there is just too much missing from it for me to continue to use it. Automatic if you guys are paying attention we need to make getting to the classic composing page as easy as getting to the stripped-down new page. I don’t mind the missing tools as much as I mind that the new page strips out components of the site when I use it, or at least strips out components of the site when I access the site since I don’t know what other people’s experience is like. When I use the classic compose I get access to the share button so that I can send this to all the FB pages I have admin status for (not something I do every day, but something I do sometimes to specific pages that the post would be welcome at), but when I use the new page the share button is gone. This is not acceptable.

Also I spent an exciting hour watching Jens Voigt ride a bicycle in circles. #Shutuplegs indeed.

Up first, while I love being able to look at a crime scene picture and establish a narrative of the events leading up to that crime scene picture, I hate being right in this case. Cops: Audi on wrong side as bicycle hit The fact that the cyclist was hit on the passenger side of a vehicle driving on the wrong side of the road (and sources I can’t link to tell me he was riding in the right hand side of the lane) point to the fact that the cyclist literally had no place to go to avoid the wreck.

I REALLY want to see how CA LEO go about not giving any kind of ticket or anything to the driver in this report. Bicyclist dies after being struck on Freeport Boulevard Two cyclists, one killed in the bike lane, and less than 24 hours after a new law making hitting a cyclist from behind a mandatory fine of nearly $1K went into effect with great hoopla. I mean c’mon, he was hit in the bike lane, if that is not “unsafe pass” personified I don’t know what would be. Hit-from behind protocols to avoid, and enforce the legal infrastructure to prevent. Or install physical infrastructure that’s “up to Dutch”.

A wreck in NV. Cyclist killed in North Las Vegas crash identified and NLV Cyclist killed in intersection was at fault The thing that always bothers me about these wrecks is was the cyclist caught by a stale green? Or in other words did the cyclist enter an intersection with the green light and just not have enough time to clear it before cross traffic started moving, but with the pictures of the weapon vehicle and the bike I think that’s not the case with this wreck. The bike is so badly mangled that determining of the bike had working brakes at the time of the wreck is pretty much impossible unless the brake cables have heavy corrosion indicating they had been disconnected for some time. So I’m going to have to go with NLV LEO on this wreck because there is no doubt the cyclist ran the red into traffic. Why he ran the red is another question entirely, not in my pay grade.

More on the “great guy” that was drinking and stoned when he killed a cyclist in NM. Suspect in cyclist’s death appears in court Interesting that the driver has two previous assault charges in the past 3 years. Also interesting is the second charge has not been adjudicated yet when he was arraigned for this charge.

The most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike tries to take out another cyclist. Cyclist critically injured in crash with Jeep in DeLand Another SWSS wreck with LEO accepting every word from the driver as absolute gospel. Protocols and Dutch quality infrastructure, and less gullible LEO, to prevent.

A PA cyclist collides with a stationary construction vehicle. Cyclist injured after crashing into truck in Murrysville No I can’t figure it out either. I have no pictures of the bike, and the picture I had yesterday of the truck is 404 now. I can tell you it was a Really Big Truck, about as large a vehicle as can be driven on the roads without permits and pilot vehicles, so I have no idea why the cyclist could not avoid it. Just pure speculation is that he might have been run off the road and into the truck but without some kind of witness to say one way or another I can’t say. I wish the cyclist a speedy recovery.

A deadly wreck in MA. Authorities Investigating Fatal Bike Accident in Malden, Massachusetts The cyclist was apparently having a medical emergency when he fell off the sidewalk under the garbage truck. This is a wreck that could be prevented with infrastructure, but in reality without universal medical care this would just result in the man dying someplace else from whatever medical emergency he was having when the truck ran him over. More Man struck, killed in Malden garbage truck accident

A spectacular wreck in the Great White North results in no injury for the cyclist. Cyclist not injured in supper-hour crash Intersection wreck that apparently the cyclist used the intersection protocols in to completely escape harm while scaring the driver half to death. Get that infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent. Note to the cyclist, if you’re a reader could you post a comment and tell us how you managed to avoid getting hurt.

Apparently the right hook is not illegal in Canada, just be aware of that. No charges laid in collision that killed cyclist in Dartmouth

From the UK a taxi hit a cyclist and a pedestrian and I feel bad for the taxi driver, and if that doesn’t get you to click the link I don’t know what will. Taxi driver critically ill in hospital after crashing into cyclist and pedestrian outside Old Bailey

A cyclist in Oz wins a minor “door prize” Trigger Warning! Bike rider says she could’ve been killed when doored on Brisbane road

Interesting Infrastructure! news from CA. Dick Spotswood: Bike path accident leads to calls for bikes to slow down I keep asking if the MUP speed limit is faster or slower than the CA school zone speed limit but I never get an answer.

More infrastructure news from CA. Olympic cyclist sues over the death of his wife, Debra Deem This is about the free right turn lane that allows drivers to make right turns without slowing down.

More on the CA enacting of the 3-feet-to-pass law. Three-foot buffer law for cyclists now in effect

Until we can get every state and city to adopt the CROW manual (still only €90!) We will need lots of these guys. Bike Scholarship Winner Saw Cyclist Fatally Injured Not that every bike lawyer needs to watch someone die, just that we need lawyers who have skin in the game to stand up for us.

Infrastructure news from the Great White North. Sister of woman killed in bike accident wants more protection for cyclists Hey I didn’t say it was good news, just news. This is a response to that other article about the woman right hooked in Dartmouth.

I don’t find these “jokes” funny, do you? Why do we still hear people joke about hitting cyclists?

Lifestyle in NC. Des Ark’s Aimée Argote plans memorial bike ride Friday night Seeing someone killed riding a bike changes you. Especially if that someone is you, but don’t tell anyone I said that. And Cyclists ask motorists to share the roadways

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: The impact of CA’s new three-foot passing law; bike-friendly Brentwood poet passes away

And those were all the links I could find yesterday (this has been a Very Long Day).

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

Overloaded with links and covered up in other obligations, and the Feed

Things have been a bit busy this week, and this is only Monday. Among things I can talk about I have a consultation with a surgeon this Thursday for removing the thing on the back of my neck that is making drinking soda from the can a painful and difficult proposition lately, and I had a discussion of volunteering for the Wendy Davis campaign this afternoon as well as a trip to the bank to pay for the new hat I’m giving myself for my birthday. The new hat is being custom-made by an Etsy vendor called “Steezy Workz” and hopefully will be ready by year’s end. And my spell checker thought “Steezy” was spelled right but not the “Workz” part of the name? WTF?!? Anywho, I’m having to order the hat over the Internet because there are no local vendors still making the hat I want. Also I am up to my eyeballs in the NDA project that is burning up tons of time as well. For a guy who doesn’t have a steady job I sure seem to have a lot to do…

Up first, despite all the predictions of mass carnage when bike share went into effect just about everywhere in North America it has been tried, those predictions have all come up negative. Why? Ideas why 0 bikers have been killed on bike-sharing bikes The hypothesis have been as many and as varied as the color schemes of the shared bikes, more so even. But as it stands now it’s all guesswork.

A NM cyclist is killed making a left turn. Cyclist killed in hit-and-run near NM 528 and Coors Bypass Apparent drunk driver runs over a cyclist moving to the turn lane as required by NM law to make that left turn, then left for dead. Modify the hit-from-behind protocols to take moving to the left into account to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Two links to a DE hit-and-run. Police ID bicyclist killed in Hockessin hit-and-run and Bicyclist killed less than mile from home Cyclist was hit head-on apparently riding on his side of the road, and from user descriptions of the road may have had less than a second to react to the oncoming vehicle. There are no protocols that will help you avoid a wreck like this and getting the infrastructure “up to Dutch” would only have helped if the cyclist was struck away from a residential area so that he would not be sharing the roads with a suspected DUI.

Wasting the court’s time in ID. Trial set for man accused of killing cyclist Changing your plea at the sentencing hearing is a serious “no class” move.

A drunk cyclist in PA. Sentinel police log for Sept. 12 Not a good idea but still better than driving while falling-down drunk.

Aftermath of a drunk driver hitting 4 cyclists head on driving on their side of the road. Cyclists stress awareness to stay safe I’m still at a loss how watching what’s going on where there is no escape route and a drunk driver is driving on your side of the road is going to do anything but leave you all tensed up when you get killed, like for those guys who died.

A hit-and-run in the Great White North leaves an injured cyclist in its wake. Police seeking driver after Dartmouth hit-and-run The driver just drove right through the cyclist leaving the stop sign. That’s not a wreck a human cyclist can avoid, and as the location appears to be the boundary between shared space and where cyclists would head to segregated infrastructure, so getting the infrastructure “up to Dutch” is kind of a tossup depending on where the segregated infrastructure began.

Infrastructure! news from CA. Give cyclists 3 feet: It’s the law now The comments section is a war zone.

Infrastructure worries after a wreck on a group ride in the Great White North. Laurie Strano’s death sparks caution at Gatineau cycling event

Infrastructure worries in the UK. Shocking road stats warn of dangers for cyclists in Sevenoaks I think people are starting to get the message that recent reductions in overall KSI are the result of changes to cars and advancements in medical care and drivers are still as bad as they ever were.

Infrastructure news from Oz, as a driver comes to the shocking revelation that they are guiding tons of killing machine around fragile human beings. Peace offer in cycle war

Infrastructure news from Enn Zed. Cyclists, drivers urged to share the road and Cyclists get the helmet message The “message” received is that unless you exceed all legal requirements to make yourself visible and protected, even if those requirements don’t actually provide any protection aside from the placebo effect (for drivers). So every square inch covered in HiViz and a silly styrofoam hat, and maybe you won’t get blamed for the drunk driver that slams into you and crushes your fragile internal organs with 2-3 tons of speeding projectile.

Lifestyle news from the RGV of TX. Son of cyclist will ride in his honor

Lifestyle from GA. Atlanta police officers join charity night bike ride

Last link, the bike to have in the garage when the zombie apocalypse hits. Bug Out Bike – Apocalypse Bicycle Maybe painting the chain isn’t such a bright idea… but having a MTB with reliable components and lots of cargo capacity with medical supplies, food, and water pre-loaded along with shelter is a good idea for anything short of a kaiju invasion, and if you’re lucky enough to know which way the kaiju is headed then even for that. Good XC tires with airless tubes gives you the lowest possible rolling resistance with no flats. I need to get Francis/es sorted out (we are down to getting the fit right now) and then all I would need would be having all those things in one area with tiedowns to secure the load ready to go.

And those were all the links I got before 1800, those I’m saving for tomorrow.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet